Chapter 62
Thinking On the Way
There were people in my life who crossed from stranger to friend so quickly that I barely noticed it happening.
Sometimes they skipped friend altogether.
Norman was one of those people.
He was an ex-Marine, although I never actually caught him with crayons.
He was also the assistant manager of the fast-food restaurant where I had my first job.
One night, a man came through the front door.
He gave me the icky feeling immediately.
I moved away from him and directed him toward the counter.
He pulled a gun on the cashier.
They gave him the money.
Then he tried to take the cashier with him.
Norman came over the counter.
No one had told him that putting himself between teenage girls and a gun was part of his job description.
He did it anyway.
Norman never told us exactly what happened outside.
Five minutes later, the police arrived.
Two minutes after that, Norman came through the back door carrying the gun and the money.
That was it.
Norman had gone from coworker, straight past friend, and landed firmly in family.
The robber probably did not understand what that meant.
Looking back, Norman was simply the first person who taught me something I would recognize again and again.
Some relationships do not need years.
Sometimes people simply decide:
You’re mine now.
I’ll look out for you.
Gate guards did it.
Students did it.
Firemen I had never met did it.
Men at a bus stop who had spent months shouting things I couldn’t understand turned their backs when I needed privacy.
Some people around me seemed confused by how quickly those bonds formed.
I wasn’t.
Family takes care of family because they’re family.
Apparently, sometimes family only takes a day.
I pulled myself out of the memory.
I was almost at the gate.
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